A Local Business Benefits from Gators and Florida Gulf Coast Pre-Game

Published April 4th, 2013

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GAINESVILLE, FL:

The Florida Gator Basketball Team has come a long way this season, and they hope to go a lot further. Many Gator fans who plan to watch the game will be supporting a local business that has come a long ways in a short time as well. TV20's Kyla Ryan is live in Gainesville to tell us about how some wings have taken flight.

We are out here at Midtown, the game between the Gators and Florida Gulf Coast isn't until 10p.m, but as you can see people have already gotten their pre-game started. One business benefitting from all this pre-gaming was founded right here in Gainesville, they have since gone global, but the manager says they never forget where they came from.

"People are always hungry," Chris Milligan (Wingzone Manager) said.

Wing Zone Manager Chris Milligan says some people may not know the story behind the University Avenue store.

"It was started on campus in 1991, moved over into this location, and it's been here ever since. That's one of the great things about it that I end up telling everybody when they come in," Chris Milligan (Wing Zone Manager) said.

Founded by UF grads Matt Freidman and Adam Scott, the store has been in the city for 22 years, and now has 100 locations nationally and globally. Milligan has been the manager at the store for 3 years now and says that working at a store founded locally is right where he wants to be.

"You got to remember that you had Wing Zone when I was in school thats where it started. That's where I started. That's where it all goes. Always remember back to those little things of what made you happy," Chris Milligan (Wing Zone Manager) said.

Milligan says they are going push out thousands of dollars tonight for the game. Any Gator Game is big, but home football that makes the most revenue.

"A Gator home football game do you know how many orders you push out? Per hour," Kyla Ryan (TV20 Reporter) said.

"Yeah, I can push out at least 25 to 30 orders per hour," Chris Milligan (Wing Zone Manager) said.

Open until the early morning, Milligan says for their store its all about the prep work and extra drivers to push all the orders out.

So just how many orders from cooking, mixing in the sauce, adding the sides, and shipping it out?

Oh tonight I am going to push out around the neighborhood of original wings 3000 just tonight," Chris Milligan (Wingzone Manager) said.

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And this is just the beginning. The manager tells me they will be making even more money and pushing out more wings for the upcoming games after the Gators beat Florida Gulf Coast tonight.